The last time the Raptors were in the Magic kingdom, Dwight Howard, Rashard Lewis and Jameer Nelson kicked them out the front gate and ended their season without so much as a pair of souvenir mouse ears.

Boston Celtics star Kevin Garnett has been suspended for one game and Phoenix centre Shaquille O'Neal has been fined $25,000 for separate incidents over the weekend.

Garnett was penalized for hitting Milwaukee's Andrew Bogut in the face near the end of Saturday's game. O'Neal was fined for verbally abusing an official and failing to leave the court quickly after being ejected Sunday night against Detroit.

"I respect every player but I'm not going to go into the game the way you guys are looking at the format," O'Neal said yesterday before the Raptors headed to Florida to meet the Magic tonight. "I feel like, the way we have to guard him is he's got to guard me."

Howard indeed totaled 91 rebounds in Orlando's five-game victory, including three games of at least 20 rebounds at Amway Arena, where the Raptors will play tonight for the first time since last season came to an end on April 28.

"Orlando probably was the icing on the cake," O'Neal said of the Raptors' motivations for acquiring him in the offseason.

"I'm going to be as aggressive as possible. I'm going to try and drive the ball as much as possible," O'Neal said. "That's what you do against great shot blockers. If you let [Howard] sit in the lane, he's going to clog it up, but if you make him move, he's going to struggle a little bit."

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"We are a different team," said Bosh, Howard's teammate on the U.S. Olympic team this past summer. "We have a different lineup now. It's going to be very interesting. [With O'Neal], we have a few more fouls to give. We can match up with them a little better and we can keep a body on him - a bigger body. I can wrestle, but that starts to wear me down and Jermaine, he's built a little more for that than I am."

"With Bosh, O'Neal and (7-footer Andrea) Bargnani in there they are able to play really big and get favorable matchups," Van Gundy said. "And all three of those players can step out on the perimeter and shoot the ball, so they are a tough team to guard."

With Dwight Howard mostly unavailable after foul issues restricted him to just four points against the Bobcats, it was the perfect example of what could happen against a dual big-man team like the Raptors.

Howard should be jazzed to get back to his usual stat line after the 3-0 road swing and lackluster night against the Bobcats, but with Toronto's additions it definitely won't be a typical bounce-back.